Advice for a Rising Junior

[annarbor]

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Hi! I'm very new to SDN, so bear with me.

I just finished up my sophomore year of undergrad, so I'd love some advice going into junior year. I really don't know anything about when I'm supposed to take the MCAT or what I'm supposed to be doing for medical school my junior year. Where should I focus my efforts? Given my stats, what schools could be good options for me in the future? What weak points in my application should I address? Also, can I include other science and math courses in my sGPA (like neuroscience, biostats, comp sci, or statistics)? Or is that not allowed? Would love some answers to these questions. Here are some stats for context:

Academics
cGPA: 3.85
sGPA: 3.81 (but I still have a year's worth of courses left to take, obviously)
Major: Health Policy, minor in Chemistry
School: Public State School, Honors College
State of Residence: Michigan
National Merit Scholar

Clinical Experience / Medicine-Related Volunteering
- Volunteered full time in a low-resource clinic for two months (320 hours) and created a sustainable public health initiative
- Shadowing: pediatrician (30 hours), neurosurgeon (80 hours), trauma surgeon (TBD, starting next semester), really want to shadow OB/GYN and ophthalmology at some point
- Volunteered in a hospital for two years (150 hours) in high school
- Planning on getting involved with my school's free clinic this year
- Organized and ran a fundraising campaign for a medical nonprofit

Research
- 2 publications (one peer-reviewed, one not)
- Research at my school's medical school (250 hours), likely will result in another publication
- Public health research (200 hours), might result in a publication or at least a poster presentation
- 1 poster presentation at school undergraduate research fair

Leadership / Other Volunteering
- Significant leadership role with a non-medical nonprofit for the last four years (600 hours)
- Volunteering with a non-medical community organization aimed at empowering homeless people (50 hours)
- Full-time internship with a health policy and advocacy organization (360 hours)

Extracurriculars (hopefully leadership eventually!!)
- Professional fraternity member
- Member of two public policy/health policy organizations

 

[Forever Geebs]

For someone that doesn't know what to do, you really seem to have everything in order and your ECs are above the avg. matriculant. But you probably already knew that. You're in good shape and just need to continue to keep doing what you've done thus far--perform well academically, keep up with ECs, and smash the MCAT.

Don't take MCAT until you've completed biochem, IMO. Look to apply next Spring, EY 2020.

Best of luck to you.

 

[annarbor]

For someone that doesn't know what to do, you really seem to have everything in order and your ECs are above the avg. matriculant. But you probably already knew that. You're in good shape and just need to continue to keep doing what you've done thus far--perform well academically, keep up with ECs, and smash the MCAT.

Don't take MCAT until you've completed biochem, IMO. Look to apply next Spring, EY 2020.

Best of luck to you.

Thank you!! I know I have to immerse myself in clinical experience and check boxes like that, so it's more the logistics and any weak spots that I'm worried about.
When is the ideal time to take the MCAT if I'm applying that cycle? I've heard scores take a while to come in... I'll be taking biochem in the spring of my junior year. Do you think that's enough time to learn the information for the MCAT, or should I take it slower and wait an extra year to apply (I don't mind doing that, just want to do it right haha).